President Biden signed legislation on Wednesday that could potentially ban the use of TikTok in the United States. Despite this, his campaign team has stated that they will continue to use their promotional account on TikTok and will attempt to collaborate with influencers on the platform.
Researchers have found that the app serves as the primary news source for one-third of Americans under the age of 30.
The legislation signed by Biden mandates that TikTok must divest from its parent company, ByteDance based in Beijing, or face removal from app stores across the United States.
This legislation is included in a foreign aid package that releases long-delayed military assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
Biden expressed concerns regarding Americans’ data security and privacy, supporting the idea of either divestment or banning of TikTok before it was included in the comprehensive plan.
According to a report from Bloomberg citing an unnamed official from the Biden campaign team, advanced security measures, such as using independent devices to post information, have been implemented when using the social video platform. Biden’s team believes that their presence on the app is a strategic means to engage with voters as much as possible.
TikTok claims to have over 170 million users in the United States. The Democratic Party saw better-than-expected results in the 2022 midterm elections, partly attributed to increased youth turnout.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated on Wednesday that the government does not intend to ban the platform but rather hopes it can be acquired by American owners to remove it from Chinese control.
Jean-Pierre told reporters, “We do not want to see a ban. There are American investors willing and interested in this.”
The Biden campaign team noted the necessity of meeting with voters anytime, anywhere in the increasingly fragmented modern media landscape. Apart from platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, TikTok is considered one of the many platforms where potential supporters can access their content.
While the White House does not have an official TikTok account, Biden prohibited the use of the app on most government devices in December 2022. Yet, his campaign team officially joined TikTok on the night of the Super Bowl this year, opting for spreading political messages through the platform rather than traditional game day television interviews.
Simultaneously, Biden’s approval among young people has been decreasing. According to a survey conducted by the NORC Public Affairs Research Center in March, approximately one-third of adults under the age of 30 approve of how Biden is handling the presidency, a significant drop compared to the initial two-thirds approval rating when Biden first took office.